Cookies & Privacy

Your privacy, your choice

This page is all about how, why and when we use your personal information. Protecting your privacy is our priority and we’re committed to taking good care of any data that you share or we collect.

We know things change. That’s why we’ve made it easy to update your marketing preferences at any time by using the button at the bottom of the page.

Some cookies are necessary to make sure our website works properly, but you can decide whether you’d like to enable other kinds of cookies.

Using this website

  • Under data protection law, an organisation that decides how the personal information it collects and holds is used is called a 'data controller'. We call this use of personal information 'processing'. If you're a member or customer of Nationwide Building Society, the data controller of your personal information is Nationwide Building Society.

    Nationwide Building Society has a number of subsidiary companies and overseas branches and is a member of various limited liability partnerships. These include Nationwide Covered Bonds LLP, The Mortgage Works (UK) plc, E-Mex Home Funding Ltd and Derbyshire Home Loans Ltd.

    In some cases, one of these companies or partnerships will be the data controller.

    In this notice, when we say 'Nationwide', 'we', 'us' or 'our' we mean the Nationwide business that is the data controller of your personal information.

  • We're constantly looking to improve how we do things – and understanding more about you helps us do exactly that.

    We collect and use your personal information to help us make our business better, improve products and services and enhance how we engage with members and customers.

    This might include:

    • Providing products and services of our partners.

    • Sharing relevant marketing about our products and services.

    • Meeting our legal and regulatory obligations.

    • Testing our systems and processes.

How we use your information

Cookies

  • Cookies are small pieces of information contained within the pages on our websites and are placed on your computer, smartphone or tablet.

    There are different types of cookies:

    • Session cookie – these are set to collect and send information to us for the length of time your browser is open on our websites

    • Persistent cookie – these stay on your device for longer to help us identify your device in the future and allow a user’s actions to be remembered. They each have their own timeframe for staying on your device.

    • First party cookie – these are placed on your device directly by Nationwide (a first party cookie)

    • Third party cookie – these are placed by a third party, such as an ad network, social media platform or search engine. It may result in additional cookies being set by that third party for their purposes.

  • Depending on whether we have the permission to do so and the digital service you are using, we will use cookies to collect and retrieve:

    • unique values so that our digital services know that they are talking to your device

    • the time and date that a device has used our websites, the content that you viewed and how you reached us (e.g. via a search engine)

    • the type of device you are using (e.g. a tablet or a computer)

    • the brand of device or browser (e.g. Apple, Android, Safari, Edge)

    • inputs made and values submitted

    • general geographical location that people access from (e.g. city/town)

    • your settings for our site

    • identifiers such as Customer Number, Application Number, Device ID or IP Address that may allow the information collected to be linked to an individual

    • where cookies collect information, which may be used to identify you, it will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

    • Please be assured that none of our cookies will collect or store any secure information about you (e.g. your Internet Bank password or memorable data).

  • Nationwide has 2 main categories of cookies:

    • Essential cookies

    • Cookies to help us improve our website

  • These cookies make our website work properly, keep you safe and enable us to provide online services by:

    • keeping your browsing sessions private

    • allowing you to complete an application form

    • making your time on our digital services run smoothly and securely

    • remembering who you are when using our Internet Bank to ensure member security

    • letting us know whether cookies will work on your device

    • ensuring we can comply with banking regulations

    • carrying out essential activities required as part of our terms and conditions with our trusted partners (e.g. paying our partners for displayed content which this device has interacted with)

    • ensuring we apply your preferences consistently

    • Whilst our cookie preferences won’t allow you to stop these cookies, your browser may. If your browser settings prevent these cookies we can't guarantee or predict how our websites will perform during your visit, and you won't be able to use any secure parts of the websites such as the Internet Bank. We may also use these cookies to understand whether you intended to access our services if you clicked on a link from a partner website.

  • These cookies help us to gain insight and improve how we do things by:

    • Understanding how our users engage with Nationwide’s websites (e.g. how you move through our website pages) and what technology they use (e.g. do more people use their phone than a computer)

    • Informing our digital strategy.